Art exhibition expands its spectrum

Bren Munroe shows fellow graphic design major Pam Sajnovsky a piece he is working on. They both submitted art to the Juried Art Exhibition and will find out if their work was placed in the show on Friday. Photo by Marissa McIntyre/ The Jambar.

The Student Art Association at Youngstown State University will showcase the artwork of students at the 77th annual Juried Art Exhibition on Friday.

The exhibition will be held at the McDonough Museum of Art at 6 p.m., with the awards presentation at 7 p.m. It will be viewable through April 12. Out of the 300 entries submitted, 80 pieces were selected for the exhibition.

Zach Repphun, president of the Student Art Association, has been working with the museum and panel of art show jurors to put the exhibition together.

“I’ve been busy, but I have the experience now. I’m working with the jurors, the museum, Student Art Association, the graphic design department, and it’s really spread my connections,” Reppuhn said.

Judging of the exhibition took place on Saturday in 14 categories that included photography, painting, sculpting, digital media, and graphic and interactive design.

Repphun said that with the addition of the graphic design categories, more students would be willing to participate in such exhibits.

“Typically, they think of a show and think, ‘Well, I don’t have anything to frame.’ It’s mostly graphic design packages, but we wanted to expand so more students can have their work seen,” he said.

Bren Munroe and Pam Sajnovsky, both seniors and graphic design majors, submitted graphic design work and paintings as they also have in the past.

“That’s the cool thing; just because you’re a graphic design major doesn’t mean you can’t enter a painting,” Sajnovsky said.

Munroe said the show wouldn’t have been as successful if a lot of students didn’t submit their artwork.

“Yeah, every art major takes painting and sculpting classes,” Munroe added. “So you can be diverse.”

Rather than posting the names of students whose artwork will appear in the show, the jurors of the art show decided to leave it as a surprise.

Students will have to attend opening night to find out if their work was deemed ready for the show.

“There is always a fear that someone’s feelings will be hurt, but this isn’t just a celebration of students whose work was chosen; rather, it’s an event to showcase art,” Munroe said.

Munroe said art is so subjective.

“I don’t think the works I’ve thought would make it into the show have ever been the ones to make it,” he said about past shows.

The jurors for the art show are Barry Anderson, associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City; Doris Short, president of AIGA Pittsburgh; and Greg Coll, principle of Greg Coll Design.

Repphun, Munroe and Sajnovsky were able to spend time with the jurors on Saturday and said they seemed impressed with the variety of work.

“It was interesting to see them in the process. It was a good experience for us to see how it works having your artwork in a museum,” Munroe said.

“And they’ve been in the field for so long, they enjoyed seeing what students are working on as well,” Sajnovsky said.

The Youngstown Jazz Collective will be adding a new vibe to opening night this year by performing as well. Repphun said working with all aspects of the College of Fine and Performing Arts has been rewarding.

The balance between the two is simple. Repphun said Munroe is designing the jazz band’s album cover.

“It’s nice to keep it all in the College of Fine and Performing Arts,” Repphun said.

Munroe said their cover is still a work in progress, but took the ideas they gravitated toward while designing.

The members said they are all looking forward to this year’s show being bigger and better.

“Overall, it’s a great experience for students to have their artwork in a museum and see how the process works,” Sajnovsky said.